Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Here are some pictures from the CAAN/Backlash demo last sunday - the eve of the coming into force of the "extreme images" ban. Thanks to Clair Lewis for letting me have them.

Mark Mackenzie

The lady with the "Big Brother is Watching You Masturbate" sign is the renowned spanking model and scene icon Pandora Blake. More pictures, together with a first-hand account of the day, on her highly recommendable blog.

Bruno Deflorence

Taking centre stage here, erotic fashion photographer Ben Westwood, who last time led a group of chained fetish models around Westminster. One of the "slaves", Jade (more conventionally dressed this time) is busy texting.

MM

Here's Clair herself looking at home in front of a TV camera. She later turned up on the BBC Ten O'Clock news.

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

The Dome squatted in the rain as Peter entered the Media-zone for hislast seminar before the Winterval vacation. He had narrowly avertedbeing evicted from the Dome Academy, an elite feeder for both theModernisation Commission and the People’s Media. Following a meeting ofthe enablers up in the Lennon-zone to consider his insufficient studentdebt, he had been ordered to go to the Conran-zone for some retail therapy.

For festival time, he went to his father’s home in a check-pointed andwell-guarded garden suburb. Peter's parents had recently terminatedtheir civil partnership. Following the abolition of marriage in 20-,work-place ballots were held to maintain the required termination ratesset by the Commission. Peter's father had been nominated by adisgruntled junior and got elected. It was terminate your partnership orlose your job. Future employment across the Modernised Zones wasimpossible to find for anybody who had failed to comply with acivil-partnership termination. ID cards stored the relevant data.

It was in the pocket of a borrowed suit that Peter found the book. Hehad been invited to a 1960s retro party and his father had said he couldborrow an old Mod suit belonging to granddad up in the attic."To Pete - this'll really blow your mind. Love Zoe" was written on theinside cover of the paperback, in good condition but bearing thedesiccated pages associated with its age. Peter noticed somestrange markings on the back - 2/ - net in U.K. The front-cover pictureda large golden lion and a boy wearing shorts.Its title - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

Peter had liked his granddad, and was curious about the book. He read itfrom cover to cover and found its imagery compelling - the strange landentered through the wardrobe, the perpetual winter, the Witch and hersecret police, and above all the towering figure of the Lion.

But he was baffled by other aspects of the tale, particularly the eventssurrounding the death of the Lion. What on earth had the boy Edmund donewrong? What was wrong with disclosing his enemies' whereabouts to theWitch? What was wrong with wanting to gain promotion for yourself at theexpense of others?

He could not understand the reason for the gory and humiliatingVoluntary Self-Euthanasia of the Lion. It was not as if he was seekingto avoid pain, inconvenience, or shame for himself. He was sacrificinghimself for somebody else. It seemed folly to Peter.

Voluntary Self-EuthanasiaAt the beginning of the autumn term, Terry began to suffer persistentheadaches. He presented himself to one of the Dome's in-house healingenhancers in the Detox-zone. The tests began, the operation occurred,the ensuing therapy continued, but the brain tumour was terminal.

Voluntary Self-Euthanasia had been introduced by the Commission to dealwith the growing problem of an ageing population. It was also useful indepleting the burgeoning prison population amongst the underclass.

The framers of the legislation considered that the growing culture ofshame surrounding death would lead most terminal patients tosign their own VSE consent forms. But if the patient was tooincapacitated to give their own consent, VSE procedure allowed theobtaining of a signature of consent from the stakeholder's employer. Foreducational institutions, the Chair of Enablers' signaturewas required; for retired persons, the Commissionerfor Pensions was responsible for issuing VSE signatures.

Early on in the scheme, a legal challenge by the relativeof an elderly VSE patient on grounds of age discrimination hadensured that regulations had to be applied in an egalitarian manneracross all age groups. VSE age discrimination was ruled contrary tohuman rights.

When the system first began in 20-, procedures were observed carefullydue to the threat of legal challenges and the initial politicalopposition to VSE. Initially, the signatures of two healing enhancerswere required to verify that the patient was unable to give consentbefore the main signatory could give theirs and VSE proceed. There wasalso an appeals procedure for relatives, which did in some cases delayVSE.

But now the system was operating in a streamlined, anduncharacteristically for the times, unbureaucratic manner. The mainsignatory would generally be satisfied with one healing enhancer'ssignature and VSE could proceed speedily.

Terry knew his moment would come as soon as the sun-tanned Chair ofEnablers took his case in hand and issued the necessary decree. Confinedto the Detox-zone, he asked for and obtained permission to visit theSpirituality-zone.

The Spirituality-zoneBanks of computer screens lined the Spirituality-zone. Aromas filled theair and the atmosphere was enhanced by electric candelabra projectingsoft lights.

Terry keyed in his password.

HELLO TERRY. WELCOME TO THE SPIRITUALITY-ZONE. YOU ARE INVITED TO CREATEYOUR OWN IMAGE.

Since childhood, Terry had particularly liked cats.

I WOULD LIKE A CAT.

One duly appeared on the screen, sitting upright and staringbenevolently.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO THE CAT, TERRY?

I AM A CANDIDATE FOR VSE. WHAT GUIDANCE CAN YOU OFFER ME?

REMEMBER THERE'S ONLY ONE YOU, TERRY. YOU'RE VERY SPECIAL.

When the decree came from the Lennon-zone, Terry's VSE was performed bya petite healing enhancer who gave him a massage and waved a crystalover his prostrate body before administering theinjection. Terry breathed his last and was instantly cremated. His asheswere placed in a container shaped like an old-fashioned Oscar.

Media IdolThe Community of the Dome gathered in the Nietzsche Hall for theend-of-term Media Idol, judged by a panel of People's Celebrities. Theformat was a policy announcement at a Commission press briefing. Eachcontestant spoke into an autocue with their face projected onto a largescreen behind them.

For the first round, contestants were tasked to briefthe media on new funding for 24-hour nurseries on the day that acommissioner had been charged with obstructing the course of a VSEauthorisation. For the second, they were tasked to humiliate anunmodernised journalist with an impersonation of a personal mannerism.

Peter's punchy performances in all the rounds won him the prize and inthe blaze of a simulated fire-work display he was declared Dome MediaIdol of the Year. The Community of the Dome then linked arms and sangthe People's Anthem, Imagine. On this occasion, Peter's lips did notmove. His mind was elsewhere.Read the rest of this article

Welcome to my Dungeon

This blog was originally intended for longer treatments of various subjects and for supplementary materials. But it's mainly where I put things of a rather more, um, adult nature that aren't suitable for Heresy Corner. Most, but not all, new content will be announced and linked to in Heresy Corner.